Publications & Documents

This publication summarises the main findings of a series of high-level expert workshops, organised with support by the European Commission, to deepen the understanding how OECD countries can move towards a broad‑based form of innovation policy for regions and cities. Weaknesses in technology and knowledge diffusion are weighing on productivity growth and innovation in OECD countries, particularly in firms that are distant from the technological frontier (global or national). This in turn weakens their capacity to meet future challenges and undermines inclusive growth. This report examines where current tools for innovation policy are too narrowly focused, targeting mainly research and development as well as science and technology-based interventions. It seeks to help empower firms to benefit from global trends and technological change, in order to better adapt to the different capacity and innovation eco‑systems across regions and cities.

This Working Paper presents the process, methodology and results of the OECD 2019 Digital Government Index (DGI). It has three key objectives. First, the paper describes the design, the content and the methodology of the pilot OECD Survey on Digital Government 1.0 and outlines the data collection and verification process. Second, it presents the outcomes of different statistical tests to assess the robustness of the results, including tests to evaluate the sensitivity of the indicators to various weighting schemes. Third, the paper presents countries’ composite results and scores by each of the six dimensions comprised in the OECD Digital Government Policy Framework. Lastly, the paper outlines the key findings and messages based on these results.

This paper presents the overall rankings, results and key policy messages of the 2019 OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) and provides a detailed analysis of the results for each of the dimensions of the OECD Digital Government Policy Framework. The DGI measures the maturity level of digital government strategies in OECD member and partner countries based on evidence gathered through the Survey on Digital Government 1.0. Findings show the promising yet modest progress towards robust digital governments, and encourage governments to step up efforts to use digital technologies and data strategically for user-driven public services. The paper highlights how the DGI can support the design, implementation and monitoring of digital government policies and practices, which, in turn, help public sector organisations better respond to citizens’ needs.

Le codage des règles est un concept prometteur qui repense l’une des fonctions fondamentales des États : la réglementation. Il propose que les autorités établissent une version officielle des règles (lois et règlements, par exemple) sous une forme exécutable par les machines, afin de permettre aux systèmes informatiques de les comprendre et de les mettre en application de manière uniforme. Plus qu’une simple solution technocratique, le codage des règles représente une évolution radicale de la façon dont les pouvoirs publics créent les règles, et de celle dont les tiers les exécutent. Partout dans le monde, des équipes du secteur public expérimentent le concept et ses applications potentielles en réponse à l’environnement opérationnel de plus en plus complexe et aux pressions croissantes sur les systèmes de réglementation en place. Déchiffrer le Code a pour objectif d’aider les intervenants publics et privés à comprendre le potentiel ainsi que les limitations et conséquences du codage des règles.

This paper presents the OECD Digital Government Policy Framework (DGPF), a policy instrument to help governments identifying key determinants for effective design and implementation of strategic approaches to transition towards higher levels of digital maturity of their public sectors. This analytical work builds on the provisions of the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Digital Government Strategies and supports the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the Secretariat across countries and individual projects. The DGPF provides the ground for peer reviews and frames the design of the methodology and the OECD Survey on Digital Government to measure countries’ digital government maturity across the six dimensions covered in this Framework: digital by design, data-driven public sector, government as a platform, open by default, user-driven and proactiveness. The document is enriched with countries' practices to illustrate the concepts covered in each of the six dimensions of the DGPF.

Rural Well-being: Geography of Opportunities presents the latest iteration on this policy framework, reflecting several important changes in rural development in recent years. Fully taking into account the variety of situations characterising rural regions, the new policy framework leverages improved data and analysis while broadening the scope from economic focus to encompass the environmental and social dimensions of well-being. The new approach places the well-being of citizens at the forefront of its objective and recognises the diversity of rural places brought by a deeper understanding of their diverse and complex socio-economic systems and their connection to cities. The framework also looks to the future and unfolding megatrends such as globalisation, digitalisation, climate change and demographic change. It reflects on how these will impact rural economies and reviews policy options to mitigate the challenges and capitalise on opportunities as well as to develop resilience against emerging crises. Finally, recognising the strong interdependencies between different stakeholders and the need for partnerships between government, the private sector and civil society to successfully implement policies, the Rural Well-being Policy Framework focuses on governance mechanisms, including the OECD Principles on Rural Policy.

Public service leaders – senior civil servants who lead and improve major government functions – are at the heart of government effectiveness. They translate political direction into the policies and programmes that keep citizens healthy, safe, and economically productive. In order to do so, however, they need to have both the right skills and institutional support to deploy them effectively. This paper summarises insights from a recently completed project that addressed this challenge. First, the paper identifies four leadership capabilities that are necessary to respond to complex policy challenges: values-based leadership, open inclusion, organisational stewardship, and networked collaboration. Second, the paper outlines a model for assessing senior civil service systems, i.e. the policies, processes and tools needed to develop these capabilities and support leaders in using them. The paper concludes with recommendations to help governments take a systematic approach to the development and management of their public service leaders.

This report presents new evidence on the impact of R&D tax incentives and direct funding of business R&D, drawing on distributed cross-country and firm-level analyses undertaken as part of the first phase of the OECD microBeRD project (2016-19). This 'distributed' approach facilitates a harmonised analysis of confidential business R&D and tax relief microdata in 20 OECD countries. microBeRD provides new insights into the effectiveness of R&D tax incentives in encouraging business R&D in the OECD area and the heterogeneity of effects both within and across OECD countries, including the underlying impact mechanisms. The report contributes to the debate on the role of R&D tax incentives in the policy mix by providing additional comparative evidence on the effects of alternative business R&D inducement incentives.